Rail-support.



No. 860,781. PATENTED JULY 23, 1907.

.RAIL SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10. 1907- I 2 a. 1 64 4 WQW E TUE I A H15 AT 'ruFhEy GEORGE M. ooTE', OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-SUIIPOR'I'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed ay 10, 1907. Serial No. 372,850.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE M. Corr), a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in Rail-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in devices for securing railway rails to cross ties or other supports.

It has special reference to the use of metallic ties and is a modification of the type of fastener covered by Letters Patent No. 839,456, issued to me on December 25th., 1906.

More particularly it consists in a metal fastener of substantially Z shape, the upper arm of which is provided with a plurality of faces for engaging the base of the rail, thus permitting the rail to be shifted laterally when it becomes necessary to regage the track to compensate for the wear of the rails.

An objectionable feature in the use of metal ties has been the difficulty of shifting the rails laterally to compensate for wear and it is to overcome this objection that this portion of my present invention is intended. I also show an improvement in the design of the rail platform portion of the tie to facilitate the adjustment of the rail when secured by fasteners of similar type to that shown and described herein.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a section of a rail and tie showing my fastener in use; Fig. 2 is a vertical section showing the left hand rail of a track when newly installed by means of my invention; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the rail shifted to compensate for wear; Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective of the form of fastener shown in the preceding figures and Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a modification of the fastener.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings'.-

1 is the cross tie, shown in the drawings for the sake of illustration as the oor tie.

2 is the railway rail, and 3-3 are transverse slots in the upper portion of the tie leaving between them a surface or bench 4 of somewhat greater width than that of the base 5 of the rail 2.

In compensating for the wear, the rail is intended to be shifted inwardly on said bench 4 for the purpose of reg-aging the track and as such adjustment in practice is usually limited to a quarter of an inch for each rail, I prefer to make said bench 4 a quarter of an inch wider than the base of the rail which in an eighty pound rail is five inches.

The fasteners 6-6 are of substantially Z shape and composed of an upper or engaging arm 7, a shank 8 and lower or tension arm 9. The lower arm 9 is inclined downwardly away from the shank on its upper face. as

at 10 and is provided with a vertical, threaded hole 11 which comes under unthreaded hole 12 in the tie when the fastener is in place. The under face of the upper arm '7 is provided with two or more-engaging faces, 13-19-13 each one inclined at a greater angle from the shank than the face next below. In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 I show but two of such engaging faces while in Fig. 5 I show three of such faces. It will be understood that any number of engaging faces desired may be provided. Said faces are separated by angular shoulders 14-14 intended; to bear against the edge of the base of the rail when the face just above engages the face of said base. The shoulder adapted to bear against the edge of the base when the lower face 13 engages the face of the base is supplied by the shank 8 of the fastener.

In applying the fastener the rail is laid in proper position on the ties and the fasteners 6-6 inserted into slots 3-3 resting loosely in the position shown. The bolts 15-15 are then inserted in holes 12-12 in the ties and their threaded ends engaged in threaded holes 11-11 in the fasteners. The bolts are now screwed up, drawing upwardly the lower arms of the fasteners and depressing the upper arms into close engagement with the base of the rail. The inclined upper surfaces, 10-10, of the lower arms of the fasteners prevent the lower arms from coming in contact with the tie so that the full pressure exerted by the tightening of the bolts 15-15 is exerted in forcing the upper arms of the fasteners against the base of the rail. The edge of the slot 3 acts as a fulcrum in this substantially pivotal action on the part of the fastener.

Assuming that the Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the left hand rail of a track, the rail in being first placed in position is positioned as shown in Fig. 2, the left hand edge of the base being substantially even with the edge of the adjacent slot 3, thus in screwing down the fastener, the lower engaging face 13 will bear against the base and the shank 8 will bear against the edge thereof. As, in this case the other edge of the base is about a quarter of an inch from the right hand slot 3, the second engaging face 13 of the right hand fastener 6 will bear down against the surface of the base and the shoulder 14 will bear against the edge of the same. tight the bolts 15-15 may be screwed down there will still be a space between the under face of the top of the tie and the top surface of the under arm 9 of the fastener, thus exerting the full force of the tightening bolt against the base of the rail. When the rail has worn sufliciently to seriously disturb and enlarge the gage, the bolts 15-15 are loosened and the fasteners relieved of their tension. The rail is now shifted to the right into the position shown in Fig. 3, and the bolts 15-15 are once more tightened, this time forcing down the left hand fastener so that the second bearing face, 13, engages the face of the base and the shoulder 14 bears against the left hand edge of the same. As the right However hand fastener is tightened, the lower face 13 bears against the base while the shank of the fastener bears against the edge of the same. It is thus seen that the rail is now firmly secured in its adjusted position and the proper track gage restored.

To retain the bolts in proper position and prevent their being jarred loose, I prefer to provide a spring lock plate 16 which is pierced to admit the bolt and provided with an upset edge to enter the slot 3. One side of said spring plate is slit to form a spring tongue 17 which is bent up to bear against the hexagonal head of the bolt 15. As the bolt is screwed up the head passes freely over the spring tongue depressing it as the corners of the bolt head pass from the root to the free end of the tongue which springs back into its elevated position, as soon as the corner passes, bearing against a face of the bolt head. It is evident that while the spring tongue 17 offers no resistance to tightening the nut, by pressing against the faces of the bolt head, it prevents the unscrewing of the bolt unless the workman holds the tongue down with a tool.

Above I have described the adjustment of the rail as limited to a quarter of an inch, giving a possible adjustment of a half inch for the two rails. This is the usual adjustment demanded in railway operations but in case a greater or smaller adjustment is desired the width of the bench 4 or the engaging faces l313 of the fasteners may be varied accordingly, as it is evident that the width of the lower engaging faces, 13-13 determine the amount of adjustment possible.

If desired the number of engaging faces on the fasteners 6 may be increased to three as shown in Fig. 5 or to such greater number as may be found convenient, the only limit being caused by the necessity of making said engaging faces of sufiicient width to firmly grip the base of the rail.

What I desire to claim is:

1. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member, the upper arm of which is provided with a plurality of engaging faces with intervening shoulders for clamping the base of the rail and the lower arm of which is provided with a threaded bolt hole, for the purposes described.

2. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member, the upper arm of which is provided with a plurality of engaging faces with intervening shoulders for clamping the base of the rail and the lower arm of which is provided with an upper face inclined downwardly awayfrom the shank and means for applying an upward tension on said lower arm, for the purposes described.

3. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member, the upper arm of which is provided with a plurality of engaging faces with intervening shoulders and the lower arm of which is provided with a threaded bolt hole and has an upper face inclined downwardly from the shank, for the purposes described.

4. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member, the upper arm of which is provided with a plurality of engaging faces with intervening shoulders and the lower arm of which is provided with an upper face inclined downwardly from the shank, for the purpose described. l

5. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member having arms of unequal length, the shorter a'rm' being provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and the longer arm being provided with a threaded bolt hole, for the purposes described.

6. In rail supports, a substantially Z shaped fastening member having arms of unequal length, the shorter arm being provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and the longer arm having its upper surface inclined downwardly from the shank and provided with means for attaching a tension member, for the purposes described.

7. In rail supports, a basic support having an opening therein, a substantially Z shaped fastening member inserted in said opening, the upper arm of which member is provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and the lower arm of which is provided with an opening, and a tension member supported by said basic support and engaging said opening, for the purposes described.

8. In rail supports, a basic support having an opening therein, a substantially Z shaped fastening member inserted in said opening, the upper arm of which member is provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and the lower arm of which is provided with an upper face inclined downwardly from the shank and meanscarried by said basic support for applying an upward tension on said lower arm, for the purposes described.

9. In rail supports, a basic support having an opening therein, a substantially Z shaped fastening member inserted in said opening, the upper arm of which member is provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and the lower arm of which is provided with an upper face inclined downwardly from the shank and a threaded hole through the same, and a bolt extending through said basic support and engaging said threaded hole, for the purposes described.

10. In rail supports, a basic support having a pair of adjacent openings therein, a platform included between said openings somewhat longer than the width of the base of the rail, a pair of reversely placed fastening members in said openings, said members being of substantially Z shape, the upper arms of said members being provided with a plurality of faces adapted to engage the base of the rail and means for exerting an upward tension on the lower arms of said members, for the purpose described 11.- In rail supports, a basic support having a pair of adjacent openings therein, a platform included between said openings somewhat longer than the width of the base of the rail, a pair of reversely placed fastening members in said openings, said members being of substantially Z shape, the upper arms of said members being provided with two faces, with an intervening shoulder, adapted to engage the base of the rail, the width of the lower faces being equal to the excess of length of said platform over the width of the base of the rail, and means for exerting an upward tension on the lower arms of said members, for the purpose described.

12. In rail supports, a basic support having a pair of adjacent openings, a platform included between said openings of somewhat greater length than the width of the base of the rail, a pair of reversely placed fastening members in said openings, said members being of substantially Z shape, the upper arms of said members being adapted to engage the base of the rail and means for exerting an upward tension on the lower arms of said members, for the purpose described.

Signed at Pittsburg, Penna, this 8th day of Hay, 1907.

GEORGE M. COTE.

Witnesses .T. H. I'IARRISON, EDWARD A, LAWRENCE. 

